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County Felway
County Felway Felway, a land of rugged moorland, craggy outcrops, oat farms and finally it’s forests of Pine, Oak and Ash. One could compare it’s landscape as a cross between that of Falkreath hold and the Colovian Highlands, it’s weather is either storm, rain, snow or overcast. History of County Felway The history of County Felway begins in the late Second Era, when an Altmer Sailor by the name of Julius Scipion after years of sailing the seas as a fine sailor, landed near where Felway is currently and after a climb, came to a village situated on the edge of a cape. The approach from the sea was impossible, the cliffs were made of a strange dark-grey rock and steep sided, rising to a height of seventy feet. The approach from the land was also rather strange, though one could land at the beaches on either side of the cape, the sides of the cape from the sea steadily rose to a height of fifty feet. The next peculiarity is that where the seventy and fifty feet cliffs meet, on the cape itself is a sharp projection of twenty feet rock, the correct term for this peculiarity on the cape is that the village was situated on an Amba, on the edge of a very steep cliff-sided cape. All is known is that something went wrong and Julius Scipion was forced to use his magic against the natives, at which point, the natives dropped to their knees and suddenly proclaimed their undying loyalty to Julius, calling him the “Stormlord”. Slightly surprised at this turn of events, Julius nonetheless set out what he’d meant to do before, build himself a home. Seeing the geographic importance of the Amba, Julius resolved to build himself a residence worthy of his people and so began the building of Castle Maeror. After years of Labour, Castle Maeror was finished a single tower had also been built on a sea-stack to the east of the castle, a few more years and Felway was a flourishing town, a path had been built up to the castle, though it’s walls were still regarded as having the strength of the sea itself. At the start of the Third Era, Julius returned from his campaigning as a Soldier under Tiber Septim, his reward had been the granting of a much larger spread of Land, the lord was now a Count. The County of Felway was at first still rather troubled, it’s clans resistant to their new ruler, so Julius Scipion formed a Force called the Steel Wolves and proceeded to give an ultimatum to the rebellious clans, Accept or Die. After around ten years of further pacification and Bloodshed, Julius finally held all of County Felway under his thumb. To show he was not a snobby noble, Julius ordered his Circlet to be made out of Steel, a symbolic act which won him the steadfast support of the clans. In the chaos of the Warp in the West, Count Scipion managed to hold onto all of his county, his quoting of his pledge of allegiance to Northpoint in 2E 848 might have been a key factor in this. More years passed and Count Scipion continued his lifestyle of running the land with a fair hand and generally hiding in his Library. Then the Oblivion Crisis occurred, Count Scipion emerged from his studying to lead the situation with a calm head. Co-operating with the Local Imperial Legion Count Scipion managed to have a force of steel wolves led by him shut the Oblivion gate outside Felway. With the immediate threat to his county conquered, Count Scipion promptly dispatched his entire remaining force of Steel Wolves to assist Northpoint. With the collapse of the Empire, Count Scipion quickly aligned himself with Northpoint, then formed two legions of 1,000 men each. When the war with Shornhelm occurred, Count Scipion dispatched his two legions, leaving the Steel Wolves to keep the peace in Felway. Though the blood price was heavy, Felway succeeded in all of the tasks it was given. Upon the return of his Legions, Count Scipion announced his military plans, the two depleted legions were fused into one, the Steel Wolves were cut in size and seven ships were built. Thus do we come to the present day, the people express complete satisfaction in the Count’s Ruling of the County, indeed the Count often walks around the town, greeting various people by name and partaking in some events , when his infirmity allows him. Physical Geography of County Felway Let us start in an anti-clockwise direction starting in the north-west, County Felway starts on the east-hand side of the river which is called in Felway, The Torrents of Baan Dar, Count Scipion even wrote a poem dedicated to this River. As we follow it down, we find on the Felway side of The Torrents of Baan Dar, the pine forests of Felway, which on their eastern outskirts have oak trees galore, around three-quarters of the trees are Pine trees and the majority of the rest are oak, with the final and smallest grouping of trees being the Ash trees. We follow the Torrents of Baan Dar down to where it splits and follow the eastern tributary, as that denotes the border of County Felway, the tributary is known as the Tears of Cuhlecain, and finally do we reach its beginning, a small outcropping of rocks from which a waterfall projects and so falls to create the Tears of Cuhlecain. Now we come to the start of the western border of Felway, here from the start of the Tears of Cuhlecain begins a stretch of craggy outcrops and moors, this stretch is known as the Felway Highlands, though it is slightly ironic as the highest outcrop only reaches a height of twenty feet. At the northern end of the highlands begins the forest which is purely on the other side of the border. Felway folk generally just call the forest “The border forest” and as it is on the other side of the border it isn’t part of Felway so I need not write about it. Continuing our route we find ourselves on the Felway coast, travelling on a well-kept road called The Fell Way, hence the meaning of evolution of the name Felway, The Fell Way has the coast on its north side and quite a few fishing hamlets, on the south side is the gentle rolling hills on which the main crop is oats. We pass Felway itself, which will have its own section, passing by the town we follow the Fell Way and after much of the same scenery reach the town of Torrensburg. Torrensburg is a town famed for its one defining feature, Fort Torrent a fort built in the early days of the Septim Empire's tenous hold on High Rock. The Fort is actually rather well-kept and is the operational headquarters of the Legio Felway. Torrensburg is however only really a stop on the way to Felway Town, but it has a thriving Mackerel market, smoked mackerel being something this Cartographer enjoys, so is it worthy of notice. continuing on our journey along the Felway, we pass a no more settlements and finally reach the mouth of The Torrents of Baan Dar and if we take a quick look in the centre of County Felway, we see that it is mainly farms and Moors upon which the hardy Felway Stallions reside. Felway Town Felway, the town itself, is a rather nice town, the style of housing is some light grey stone with slate roofing. The town is built clearly centred around the Castle, with the Crag on which the Castle rests sheltering the town from the winds sweeping in from the east. A small river, no more than nine feet across forms the eastern boundary of the town. It is east of the castle and its crag, Of which projects only slightly into the sea, a small bridge to cross it and then one comes to the eastern gate of the town. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herring_BussThe Docks The Docks are arranged in an ordered arrangement, each one is identical, cranes operate to help load on the precious cargo which Felway is the largest producer and exporter of, oats, the ships which take this cargo are known as Clippers, they sail with such speed they can outrun almost any ship as long as it isn’t propelled with magical aid. The Docks are constantly busy from around an hour before sunrise until moonrise, Fishing boats, Clippers and other vessels, it is a constant stream of ships, to manage such a vast operation requires an ingenious administration, which is what there is, at the start of each dock is a clerk who takes the name of the ship, it’s cargo and the name of its captain. All records, complaints and other things are all held and dealt with at the Felway Company Headquarters, a building which rather surprisingly is usually empty, at the end of the day the records are collected and entered into the record library and then it waits for the next day. At the western end of the docks is where new Felwayian Fishing Vessels are built, with a commercial fleet of twenty one fishing boats, the shipyard is quiet, one can request to buy a Felwayian Fishing Ship, the reply is always the same, a no and then an armed escort away from the shipyard. The Fishing Vessels are known as Herring Buses(Link at the top of this section). The Residential Sect The Residential sect is where the people of Felway town reside, the houses are as I have already wrote made of light-grey granite and roofed with slate tiles. Shops puncture the scene, as do stalls and fountains. The Chapel of Julianos The Patron divine of Felway, the Chapel of Julianos is built in a style extremely similar to that of Churches in Cyrodiil, inside the carpets are navy blue and it is generally, Religious. The Town Wall and Towers The fortifications of Felway town are rather imposing, twenty feet high walls made of dark-grey granite. The towers are octagonal and the turrets of the walls and towers are the standard one would expect of a normal castle, the fortifications were clearly designed with defence in mind, with no ornamental decorations, just plain smooth stone. There are two gatehouses, one at the western end and the other at the eastern end, rather thoughtfully they are labelled the west gate and the east gate. The gatehouses are reminiscent of the Gates at Bruma, with thick heavy doors and generally a cold air around the guards who man them. Castle Maeror At last we come to the defining feature of Felway, Castle Maeror. Castle Maeror is made of very dark-grey granite, matching that of the granite crag - Castle Crag - of which it is situated upon. Being a Crag and Tail Formation, the Crag faces east with the tail sloping down to the west. Up this path of many hairpin bends, we come to the Gatehouse and so step through it and are greeted with the sight of the Lonely Oak. The Lonely Oak Fountain is the epitome of waterworks and Altmer Magic-Masonry. A single lonely Felway Oak, in its old age having slight slivers of silver permeating its bark, stands proud on a single island in the middle of a white marble fountain basin. Below it float Water Lilies, Lotuses and Mana Blooms and beneath them swim imported Koi. The rest of the courtyard is relatively spacious, cobblestones, with Roses climbing the walls, though every so often the Count might change the colour of the Roses or the plant itself, though usually it is Roses, the Count's favorite flower. We then traverse the steps up to the Main Hall door, the door is once again simple, built for defence, not for decoration. Inside Purple carpets cushion the floor, Banners hang Proudly displaying the Crest of County Felway, above in the rafters to chandeliers with specially enchanted mage-fires glow. The only part of Castle Maeror open to the common visitor is the throne room where the Current Chamberlain Louis Vautrine makes the arrangements for an appointment with the Count, though on the first Sundas of every month he will be present in the throne room for the whole day to generally sort out anything that people believe requires the Count’s personal attention, no matter how trivial the problem seems, the Count will always endeavour to find a solution to it. The Throne of Judgement The Throne of Felway, the throne upon which Count Scipion sits when present at court, the throne was designed by the Count himself and in his own words is "Designed to be uncomfortable, so that one must sit up and focus, I also hope that any who come after me will take the lesson that a ruler can never slack, they must always sit up and focus, for to slack is to be lazy, to be lazy, is to invite ruin onto the land". Prominent People in Castle Maeror Count Julius Scipion - Count, he also works as the court mage and healer as he finds the usual people who take this rank to be, tedious, so he generally took the ranks to save himself a lot of bother. Sir Louis Vautrine - Steward of County Felway, Chamberlain of Castle Maeror and Butler to Count Julius Scipion, holds the rank of Sir and is the only one in Felway who holds the title and isn't a martial knight. Douglas McClellan - Groundskeeper of Castle Maeror, Douglas makes sure all of the gardens are as they should be and can often be found checking on various parts of the grounds. Phillipe Javier - Head Chef of Castle Maeror, Phillipe generally prepares and oversees the dinners of everyone in the castle, apart from the guards who have their own cook. Quentin Bonaparte - Court Accountant, Ex-Steel Wolf and Holder of the Herring Buses Designs. Stephen Abbot - Bishop of Julianos and Spiritual Advisor to the Court - generally found playing cards at the tavern by the name of "The Foaming Flask". The Court and household of Castle Maeror is rather Patriarchal, as the Count is not married and so that eliminates the need for female staff and so there are very few women in the household staff and none sitting on the court. Prominent Settlements in Felway Here is listed the five prominent settlements of Felway, in population size order. Felway Town - 4,956 people - Capital of County Felway - Eastern Riding - Felway Town is the largest settlement, the seat of Count Scipion whose early rule was infamous for its brutality but over the years his popularity has soared. The town is renowned for its style of housing and its fully working sewage system. Torrensburg - 1,945 people - Northern Riding - Headquarters of the Legio Felway located there, it is the second-largest settlement in County Felway and is famed for its Smoked Mackerel and it Salmon Fisheries. It is in Torrensburg that once an infamous witch hunt was held, ended with the vengeful arrival of the Count who promptly ordered one in ten of those who particpated in the hunt to be hung. Garnes - 1,026 people - Central Riding - Located somewhere in the middle of the western woods of Felway and so produces a lot of wood for the shipbuilding industry of Felway. It is also the birthplace and hometown of the famed Lady Fiona of Garnes. Elkstone - 976 people - Western Riding - Famed for the Tale of the Elk King, it goes that in the late second ara a feral child was apparently raised by Deers and went on to found the town of Elkstone and then promptly disappeared. Eldekirk - 839 people - Southern Riding - Once the seat of Clan Elde who were wiped out in the early years of the third era for their refusal to submit to the rule of the Empire, now a thriving sheep farm as there are no more people with the surname Elde in Felway. Economy of Felway The Economy of Felway is generally it’s exportation of oats and its other much smaller export of Iron, Corundum and Silver, with only three small-medium sized mines operating in the County. It is however self-sufficient, with its efficient clerks making sure nothing is wasted unnecessarily and with the Count’s personal fortune backing his County, the county can rest safe knowing its finances are safer than a Dwemer Safe. Flora of Felway The most common tree is tied between the Conifer tree and the Felway Oak, which in old age tends to show slivers of silver-coloured bark. The smallest group being the Ash tree, the other common trees are Silver Birches, Yew Trees, Pine Trees, Willow Trees, Fir Trees, Holly Trees, Rowan Trees and Apple Trees. Most of the land of Felway is moorland, as such the plants expected to grow in Moorland are present. That is to say, much Bracken, Thistle and Mosses. The only other plants of note in Felway are that of Wolfsbane, which is illegal to pick by Felway law due to its rarity and use in Alchemy. Also available, is Nightshade, Jazbay Grapes, Deathbells, Bluebells, Tundra Cottons, Blackberry Bushes and Canis Root. There are many mushrooms. Though there aren't any Mushroom Genus's of note in Felway, it does have an abundancy of Emetic Russula. Fauna of Felway There are a few species native to Felway, each one documented in the wild by Count Scipion and other nature enthusiasts over the years, the most mighty of them all is the Felway wolf, a wolf renowned for its intelligence and speed and as such, culled every year in the Fall. There is also the sea falcon, an offshoot of the Peregrine Falcon Species, which has developed its hunting habits to flying above the sea and then suddenly diving down to plunge into the sea and swoop out with its prey. Also abundant is the Felway Deer, an offshoot of the red deer, the Felway deer is so called due to its dark brown coat rather than the usual reddish-brown found on red deer. There is the Felway otter, which is just an otter with a grey coat rather than the usual brown coat. On the moor is the pheasant, and the hardy Felway Stallion which is bred purely for the Steel Wolves to use, though one can pay a high price to have one bred for their own purposes, albeit with it made infertile so as to ensure that no other place can have this magnificent breed, imagine a bay horse, but swifter, slightly larger and with more feathering on the lower portions of the legs. In the seas there are many fish, however there is no eel present in Felway waters, the most common bird is the swift and the most domesticated animal is the Moor Sheep. There are also rather strangely, no reptiles or amphibians present in Felway. Politics and Security of Felway The Politics of County Felway are relatively simple, there are five sections of County Felway, the north, central, east, south and west, each called a riding, so the town of Felway is located in the east riding. Each riding is overseen by a Sheriff, an expectation of the job is that the sheriff is not corrupt, to ensure this a network of informants is utilised. County Felway is patrolled regularly by a standing force of the Legio Felway, the Steel Wolves are only used in protecting Castle Felway and when rumours of a something in need of a brutal put down is floating around. Nobility of Felway Felway whilst a not really noble-filled place, does however have a few Noble families, some of them more prominent than others, here is a relatively definitive list: Count Scipion - The Count of Felway, he has no family or heirs. HOUSE PEREGRINE - The Peregine Families seat is the Town of Torrensburg, the motto of the House is Strike Swiftly and Surely. The Peregrine Family like all noble families in Felway were emplaced by the Count during the early Third Era to keep the Local Clans of Felway in line, well the nearest ones to each strategically emplaced family. - Lady Eleanor Peregrine, a Woman of 39, Lady of Torrensburg. - Lord Marcus Peregrine, Lady Eleanor's Husband, 37 years of age. Their Children: - Johnathan Peregrine, a boy, 16 years of age, Heir to the Lordship of Torrensburg. - Maria Peregrine, a girl, 12 years of age. HOUSE WESTERLAND - The Westerland family has its seat in the town of Garnes and is currently famed for its production of Lady Fiona of Garnes, who is currently a knight in the stormguard. The Westerland Families motto is Rise from the West. - Lord Tarly Westerland, a man of 62 years of age, Lord of Garnes. - Lady Diana Westerland, Deceased wife of Lord Westerland. Their Children: - Charles Westerland, a man of 28 years of age, Heir to the Lordship of Torrensburg. HOUSE MONTGOMERY - The Montgomery Families seat is the town of Elkstone and isn't actually that famous, but the personality of almost all of its scions is that of boredom, even if a battle was raging, they tend to be bored, the Montgomery family motto is Seek the truth. - Lord Phillipe Montgomery, a man of 46 years of age, Lord of Elkstone. - Lady Jane Montgomery, a woman of 32 years of age, wife of Lord Phillipe Montgomery. Their Children: currently Lady Jane is pregnant and an heir is expected soon. HOUSE SHARPE - The Sharpe families seat is the town of Eldekirk, it is known for its rather blood-filled past. During the middle of the third era, a small family spat turned into a full feud between its family members, Count Scipion arrived to quell the feud with his Steel Wolves and promptly the number of living Sharpes was lowered to 1, its motto is Blood is Precious. - Lord Richard Sharpe, a man of 56 years of age , Lord of Eldekirk. - Lady Lucille Sharpe, a woman of 47 years of age, Wife of Lord Richard Sharpe. Their Children: - Patrick Henri Sharpe, a man of 19 years of age, Heir to the Lordship of Eldekirk. - Dominique Sharp, a girl of 14 years of age. That is the list of all noble families in Felway, though there is Sir Vautrine, upon asking him if he was a noble, Sir Vautrine replied that he is not a noble, despite his impressive lineage which can be traced to the Carons, the Septims and the Hassildor's of Cyrodiil, Sir Vautrine however is rather humorous about his lineage joking that it must have been "The result of lots of wine, skooma and lobster". Army of Felway The Army of Felway numbers 2,000 men and is focused on three virtues Duty, Discipline and Swiftness, as such it is small, well-equipped and well-trained force which hits hard and can keep hitting if needs be. The Army of Felway though small is famed for its behaviour and discipline, indeed the Count deploys them as "Provosts" or "Marshals" at the service of the Monarch should it be needed for some form of military policing. 250 Steel Wolves: The Steel Wolves, Felway’s most famed military unit, they are essentially, a mounted version of the Felway Guard. They are trained however, to ride in formation and to follow orders to the letter. They wear Wolfskin Cloaks and carry simple wooden lances with a sharpened Steel-silver point. The rank structure is: Major: Commands 250 men including their self and their own fifty man contingent. Captain: Commands fifty men including themselves. Lieutenant: commands twenty five men including themselves, with their own four man team as protection. Sergeant: commands ten men including themselves. Corporal: commands five men including themselves. Private: the bottom rank. Felway Guard – 1,000 Men Equipped with Chain mail, Steel Cuirasses, gauntlets, greaves and boots. Steel Longswords, a tabard bearing the colours of Felway, they wear conical-topped Barbutes with seagull wings subtly embossed out from the inside. They in peacetime act as the standing guards of Felway, albeit at half the number, they are called “Roundheads” due to a popular(but untrue) myth that all the guards must shave their hair to be a guard. They act as the Heavy Infantry on the Battlefield. The guard is divided between the Oak Guard, from the beginning of spring to the end of summer and the Holly Guard, from the beginning of autumn to the end of Winter. They are distinguishable from each other with the Oak Guard wearing Oak leaves and Blue cloaks and the Holly Guard wearing Holly and Grey Cloaks. Felway Longbowmen - 750 Men With their Longbow's, tabard, Kettle Hat, Steel Shortswords, Chainmail, Gloves and leather boots, the Longbowmen aren't the most obvious of enemies. But deployed with the Guard, they can be a force to be reckoned with. They Wear Green Gloaks. Whilst marching to and in a war however, they all wear purple cloaks. Demographics of Felway The main ethnic group is the Felway Breton, followed by the Bretons of other lands, most races are present in Felway, the only ethnicities not found in Felway are the Wood elves, Khajiit and the Argonians and the smallest group are Dark Elves followed by the High Elves. The Last census of Felway numbered its population at 21,836 and in ethnic grouping it went thusly: Felway Breton - 7,956 Breton - 6,093 Imperial - 3,477 Nord - 2,995 Orsimer - 766 Redguard - 509 Altmer - 23 Dunmer - 17 Category:Lore Category:Northpoint Category:Felway